11.26.2008

mother killed, saves kids from gunman

This is a crazy, tragic story out of the Bay Area... Yesterday, a woman was killed in her San Mateo home after police exchanged gunfire with an intruder. But as the gunman stormed the bedroom where she had barricaded herself, 24-year-old Loan Kim Nguyen was able pass her two small children out the window to SWAT officers: San Mateo home invasion ends in death for mom who saved children.

Police say the intruder apparently had targeted the home where Nguyen lived with her husband, 3-year-old son and 1-year-old daughter, and there was some indication the crime was "not a random act." But it remains a mystery what had brought the still-unidentified intruder to the home. Who was this guy? And what was his deal?

Whatever the case, this woman is a hero. She essentially sacrificed herself so that offers could get her children to safety, as the gunman fired blindly through the walls of the bedroom. According to the article Nguyen, collapsed after handing the second child to an officer. She was take to Stanford Hospital, where she died.

Police chased the intruder through the home, finding him in a back bedroom, dead of at least one gunshot wound. It's possible he might have shot himself. More here: Home invasion leaves woman, suspect dead. There's also video of some of the shootout and the children's rescue here.